A Lucknow court has registered a complaint case against Asian News International (ANI) Editor-in-Chief Smita Prakash, following allegations that the news agency circulated fabricated statements in the name of the Election Commission of India (ECI). In his complaint, Thakur documented several instances where ANI allegedly pre-empted or fabricated official communications. He claimed ANI may have accessed insider information and misrepresented it as official statements, misleading the public and undermining institutional credibility. Accepting the procedural validity of the complaint, the court has now taken the first step by registering the matter as a complaint case. Case Title: Amitabh Thakur vs Smita PrakashOrder Date: September 11, 2025Judge: Judicial Magistrate-III, Lucknow